Forbidden Fruit
by whitewave3
Summary: Noctis and Stella have a secret child together. But due to the war, Alida is kept in secret. Not knowing who her mother is and not being able to see her father, she decides to run away from all the restrictions to search for her mother she never knew.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Noctis walked down the lonely one way street. He saw someone in the distance but couldn't make out who it was. He realized that the soldiers he was fighting before were not too far behind him, so he ran forward. He came to a stop when he recognized who the person in front of him was.

"Lord Noctis" said Stella in her soft voice as she ran towards him before she slowed to a stop.

The both of them had their symbols up and were ready to summon their weapons. Stella started first and was closely followed by Noctis. They gazed into each other's eye for a moment before they began their battle. As they engaged in combat, Noctis thought, 'She is the enemy… You have to defeat her… Even though you love her…'

Lights from their auras were given off. Noctis managed to trap Stella using his teleportation which caused the fight to come to a halt. Noctis stood behind Stella as his sword collided with hers in front of her.

A vague sound of soldier's armour rattled in the distance.

"You don't have to do this" he whispered in her ear.  
"Sorry. But I have too. It's my job," she replied strongly.  
"Stella. I really do not want to hurt you."  
"I will do whatever I can to protect my family, Lord Noctis. Even if it means…"  
"Standing between us?" Noctis said, finishing off her sentence.

There was silence between them as neither of them showed any signs of lowering their swords.

"Stella. Do you even know what you're doing? What your family is doing?"  
"Yes."  
"And you're still on their side? Why?"  
"They're my family, Lord Noctis. There care about me."  
"I care about you! And I really do not want to hurt you."  
"You have to if you're ever going to pass me."  
"…Fine." He sighed back.

The rattled noise of the soldier's armour could be heard getting closer. As Noctis turned to look if he can see them on the horizon, Stella used the opportunity to break free of his arms and face him once again. Noctis was able to make sight of the soldiers that chased him. A soldier with a rocket launcher shot towards the location of where they stood.

As the rocket moved closer towards them, he teleported into the air and looked to see where she was. His eyes widened as he realized that Stella had not moved from her spot since the rocket was fired. He teleported again, caught her by the waist and desperately teleported to get out of range but didn't manage to get too far. Both of them were hit by the wave of the blast and crashed to the ground. Stella laid on her back on the cold concrete ground while Noctis lay on his front next to her.

Both of them were passed out from the blast for a split second. The smoke of the explosion gave some coverage to the lovers from enemy sights. As Stella regained consciousness, her eyes were fixed on his crimson eyes. He tried to gaze into her eyes but she avoided it. She stood up hastily with her back to him while to avoid him seeing her blush.

As he stood up, he said, "I'm sorry... I just can't let you get involve with this war any longer."  
She turned around to face him but was surprised as he shot forward and pushed her against the wall. He held her hands tightly so she couldn't struggle free.  
"Let go of me," she pleaded.  
"I can't. I'm sorry," he whispered.  
He held both of her wrists firmly in his hands as she pleaded again "Let go of me! Please!"  
He said sorry once more before he knocked her out with one blow. Her eyes began to close as she realized that she was defeated. He caught her as she began to fall, then scooped her off her feet and carried her in his arms and teleported away before the chasing soldiers could catch up.

The young prince stared motionless. He looked though the windows which overlooked his father's kingdom. He blinked slowly before turning his back and walking to his room.

The moonlight streamed through the window and brightened the prince' room. Stella stretched on the bed and opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the darkness. She sat up and scanned her surroundings as she attempted to identify where she was. She untangled herself from the covers and got out of bed, the bathroom was on her left and another door at the corner of the room which she assumed led to the closet. She walked into the bathroom and opened the tap allowing the water to freely flow down the drain. She cupped her hands and placed it under the tap to catch the water before she splashed her face. A sudden movement on the reflection of the mirror caught her eyes which gave her the sudden reaction to see who it was. She looked up only to see a figure which leaned on the door frame starring back at her. She turned around to face Noctis.

Noctis turned his back on her and walked away. Stella grabbed the towel on the tower rail and wiped her face before she moved back to the room.

"Where I am?" she asked even though Noctis remained motionless on his bed.  
"You brought me back to your palace didn't you?" as she sat next to him.

She walked towards the bedroom door but before getting too far, Noctis grabbed her by the hand. She turned around and looked into his blue eyes for an answer.

"You cannot leave," he finally said a soft voice while looking deeply into her violet eyes.  
"Why not?" she demanded,  
"I won't let you" he said while he stood up,  
"Excuse me?"

As she tried to free herself from his grip, he pulled her closer into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down deeply into her eyes before he leaned forward. His arms tightened around her waist while his nose touched hers. Stella, astonished by his movements, reacted back, causing her to lean forward until their lips met.

Noctis leaned backwards and opened his eyes. She let out a small sigh before she opened hers. She looked into his eyes and questioned him.  
"What are we doing?"  
He answered, "I told you, I'm not letting you go anymore."

After starring at him for a little while longer, she placed her hands around his next before she leaned forward. Not before long, the couple began to passionately kiss each other. Noctis began to gradually push Stella backwards on the bed. Stella leaned back until her back touched the bed and Noctis leaned forward on top of her and continued to kiss her. He pulled back away from her so they could gaze at each other's eyes for a brief moment. He kissed her gently on her lip before moving to her neck.

"Noctis?" she whispered, as he continued to kiss her on her neck,  
"We shouldn't be doing this."  
He pulled away from her and stared at her with no response  
"It… it isn't right... she said feeling guilty. "You and I shouldn't be doing this... Not with our backgrounds and especially with our families at war" she continued.  
"Stella, I'm not going to stop loving for you" he replied.

She looked away as she didn't know how to reply. The room was silent. Nothing could be heard except for their shallow breathing.

"What if my father finds out?"  
He pushed her hair back from her face and said "He won't."  
"You don't know that."  
"Yeah you're right. But I'm not going to tell him. Are you?"  
"Well… No... But…"  
"Stella..." Noctis whispered.  
The wind began to howl outside and Noctis shifted his eyes to the window than back to her before he confessed.  
"Stella, I love you. I've loved you for some time now. I know I shouldn't have but I can't stop thinking about you. As much as I try to avoid it, I can't..."

Stella showed an innocent look on her face. Her nerves began to calm down. She placed her hand on his cheek and realized that he confessed in something that she would never be brave enough to do.

She quickly replied "I've loved you for some time too... but... what would happen afterwards? I want to make sure that this will stay and will be strong enough"  
Noctis thought for a brief moment before he replied "It will be strong enough"  
"How do you know that? Last time I check, seeing into the future was not one of your abilities"  
"Because I know you're the person I want to marry, would even want to have a daughter with..." he trailed off.

After she heard this, she hastily moved forward to reach his lips. Soon their kiss grew passion. Stella sat up while she continued to kiss Noctis. She began to help him unbutton his shirt to take it off before lying down on the bed again. Stella began to feel his face before she suddenly stopped on his cheek. Noctis caught by surprise asked her what was wrong.

"what's wrong?"  
"did you just say you wanted a daughter...?"  
Noctis shifted his eyes for a moment and faced away as he tried to avoid her seeing his blush.  
"Noctis..." she whispered  
"I've always wanted a daughter. Well...liked the idea of having one."  
"Noctis... your father's kingdom is ruled by kings. There has never been a mention in history of a queen ruling. Having a daughter could have serious political and civil issues in your kingdom"  
"It won't matter. Cause she will be mine and yours too. I doubt anything will arise when I'm around anyway and even if anything does, I will be there to protect her."

Stella looked at Noctis' chest and saw his scars. She couldn't even remember how many of those she gave him. Her chin was lifted by Noctis' finger and Stella rubbed her thumb on his cheek before she kissed him.

"You will make a great father, Noctis Lucis Caelum..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sunlight streamed through the window and lighted up the prince's room. The couple lay closely together on the bed, Noctis holding Stella in his arms. He opened his eyes slowly and adjusted to the brightness of his room. He removed his hand from his wife, carefully trying not to wake her up before he gently stroked her long golden hair.

He gently kissed her on her temple which caused Stella to stir from his touch.

"Good Morning" he said as he kissed her.  
"Morning" replied the princess as she smiled at her husband. Stella's smile faded as she looked deeper into his eyes.  
"What's wrong?" he looked at her suspiciously,  
"I've been thinking..." Stella began, "we've been together for a year now. Maybe it's time for me to make a trip back to Tenebrae."

Noctis frowned, he let go of her and got out of bed "we've been through this Stella. No."  
"Why not?"  
"Stella, you're about to become a queen, and you want to make a trip to Tenebrae which is still in the middle of the war" he replied while putting on his clothes  
Stella sat on the bed; wrapped her body with the blankets to shield her from the cold "I know, but I miss it even if it's rough around the edges. I think that we can actually them."  
"Stella, I expected that when you said yes to my proposal to be my queen, that you understood the duties to this kingdom" Noctis replied facing her while buttoning his shirt.  
"I know... but Noct, it's my home..." she said softly.  
"This is your home Stella"  
"So what am I suppose to do? Forget all about it? Just forget my heritage just because I live here now?" she exclaimed,  
"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that Tenebrae is still in the same mess as it was a year ago. It's not safe. It might never be safe again."  
"So now I can't protect myself?"  
"You know that's not true." He said while putting on his blazer.  
"If I remember correctly, you and I used to fight and we were on equal ground",  
"Stella... please do not do this now."  
"Noctis, I want to go home" she said sternly while still holding the blanket up to her neck.  
Noctis sighed while he shook his head "Stella, I can't let you go, you know that. Besides, I need you here to help me."  
"Help you with what exactly? You don't let me do anything without your supervision."  
"That's not true."  
"Yes it is. It's either your supervision or you challenge and correct everything I do. You know Noctis, when I said yes, I expected to be part of your life not to just sit at the back seat."  
"Stella, I'm not going to deal with this now. I have to get ready for the meeting. We'll talk about this later."  
"So I'm expected to help your people but when there is an opportunity to help my people, I'm not allowed to? What's the difference between our two kingdoms?"  
"The difference is my kingdom is not starting wars all over the place. For the love of god Stella, Tenebrae is a lost cause and you know it." Noctis replied sharply.  
Stella shocked from Noctis reply, quietly said "What happened to it being our kingdom?"  
Noctis just looked straight into her violet eyes and replied "I have to go, I'm already late"  
"fine."

Noctis turned his back from her before closing the room door from behind him. He leaned his head against the door before saying "What a start to the day."

As the week progressed, Noctis and Stella had very little to say to each other after their spat. It didn't help that after his father passed away, Noctis was burdened with everything. This caused him to work away from the palace and work very late hours which unfortunately meant he didn't get any time to sort things out with Stella.

Stella felt a rush of sadness in her heart as she looked back at the palace. She put her white hood up and turned to start her journey to Tenebrae.

Noctis let out a deep breath before he opened his room, somewhat relieved that he didn't have so much work to do but at the same time, dreading to face what he thought to be on the other side of his bedroom door. As he walked in, he didn't expect to see what he saw; a light yellow envelope with his name nicely written on it on his bed instead of his wife. Noctis heart sank as he threw his blazer on the dresser chair and sat on his bed to read it.

_Dear Noctis,_

After this past few weeks, it made me realise that maybe you and I rushed into this marriage too quickly... I love you and I always will, but I'm not too sure if I'm ready to be your queen and give up on Tenebrae. 

_I know you think badly of Tenebrae but as bad as it is, it still is where I am from. I want to help your kingdom prosper but I also do want Tenebrae to prosper and end this war too..._

_The first time I met you, during that treaty party, I had a dream, a dream that one day that our two kingdoms will become alliances. It's still my dream and I want to do everything I can to help it get there._

You want to help your kingdom, just as I do mine. 

_So I think it would be best if we separated for a little while and try to achieve the goals we set out before our marriage. Maybe then, you and I will be able to communicate better..._

Loved you once, always have, always will.

~ Stella ~

Noctis folded the letter and placed it back in its envelope. He stared at it for a long time as he felt his heart sink deeper and deeper into pain.

He got up, headed towards his closet to get changed, put his black shirt and short sleeved jacket on before he changed his pants. He looked at the envelope again before he walked out of his room.

"Ignis" he said as he walked down the stairwell to meet his childhood friends Ignis and Daemon.

Two tall guys, both experts in some form of combat. Ignis looked intelligent with his light brown hair neatly combed and wore his glasses. He grew up being akin to Noctis and specialised in throwing weapons and a use of a katana while Daemon, who had a scar over his left eye was more broader looking and specialised in his fists and massive swords and looked to be the elder of the group. Both guys act as Noctis' brothers, the brothers he didn't have.

"Yes?"  
"We're going to Tenebrae."  
"That's sudden. Why?" questioned Daemon,  
"I'll tell you on the way"

"You sure you got the address right?" asked Daemon.  
"Yeah I'm sure" replied Noctis.  
"Well assuming you're correct, this should be the place" said Ignis as he parked the car right infront Stella's house. He pulled the handbrake and off the engine before he looked at Noctis through the mirror.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked,  
"she's my wife, I have to bring her back."  
"That's one thing, but... it's Stella, Noctis. She might not like the idea that you are forcing her to go home" replied Daemon.  
"Just wait in the car, I won't be long," as he opened the door to get out.

As Noctis opened the wooden entrance gate and walked past the window he saw her only to see that the wife he was longing so much, was embraced in another man. She was embraced in another man. Noctis felt his heart tore into pieces as he continued to stare. He looked away before he took another glance at his wife, before he made his way back to the car.

"What's wrong?" asked Daemon turning to look at Noctis in the back seat.  
"Just drive" Noctis whispered before he looked out of the car window.


End file.
